Buttoning means

ABSTRACT

A buttoning means is provided having two parts, one of which holds a barbed member able to pierce the item to be buttoned and then to be restrained by the other part, the parts are tethered by a tethering means that was coiled in one or both of the parts prior to buttoning and is uncoiled when buttoning has been effected.

This invention relates to a buttoning means and a method of buttoningusing said means.

It is well understood in the art of buttoning that a first button mustbe provided with a tethering thread and that this thread must be linkedto a second button or similar restraining means so that the cushion oritem to be buttoned may be buttoned or deep-buttoned depending upon thelength of the tethering thread. This operation is usually performed witha needle. Improved buttoning methods are available however and these mayemploy a buttoning gun. Such a gun is described in the specification ofmy co-pending United Kingdom Patent Application Nos. 56396/72 and56795/73. Notwithstanding the use of a buttoning gun there is still theneed for the attachment of the tethering thread or loop to therestraining means and it is this step which is uneconomical of the timeexpended in the buttoning operation.

It is an object of my invention to provide a buttoning means andbuttoning method in which the attachment of the tethering means isperformed quickly and efficiently.

Accordingly I provide a buttoning means comprising a button, a barbedmember adapted to pierce an item to be buttoned said barbed member beingheld by said button or part of said button, a restraining means for thereception of the barbed end of said barbed member and a coiled tetheringmeans which uncoils and tethers the restraining means and the button viathe barbed member when the barbed end of the barbed member enters therestraining means or a part thereof.

Accordingly, I provide a method of buttoning wherein a tethering meanswithin a button is attached to or is to be attached to a barbed memberheld by a button, the barbed member being used to pierce an item such asa cushion to be buttoned and engage with a restraining means or a partthereof adapted to restrain the barbed member so that when engagement iseffected spring-back forces generate in the item to be buttoned releaseand uncoil the said coiled tethering means from within said button andor said retaining means and buttoning is effected.

According to a further feature of my invention, I provide buttoningmeans in which a button has a detachable barbed member for piercing acushion and is adapted to tether the button to the cushion when detachedfrom the said button.

Preferably, the restraining means is a second button or the bottom of abutton and the barbed member is a needle adapted to carry a cord liketethering means such as a thread, an umbilical cord, a web or an harnessof threads, preferably all of nylon, within a hollow space of a firstbutton.

The term `coiled` is herein used to mean to gather or to lay up in sucha manner as to prevent entanglement.

The invention will be more readily understood from the followingdescription of three examples shown in the figures of the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional elevation of a button provided with a detachablebarbed member or needle;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation showing the button of FIG. 1 after ithas pierced a cushion and mated or engaged with a restraining means inthe form of a second button;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation of a buttoning means in which a firstbutton holds an integral barbed member or needle and a mating secondbutton is provided with a detachable restraining means tethered to it;

FIGS. 4, 4A show a button with a detachable barbed member or needle heldby a tethering means in the form of a harness.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a hollow button shown generally at 10 has anupper part 11 and a base part 12 enclosing a hollow space 13. The basepart 12 enclosing a hollow space 13. The base part 12 is provided with acentrally disposed aperture 14 adapted detachably to hold and retain abarbed member 15. The barbed member 15 has a pointed end 15a, anabutment or barb 15b and an end 15c remote from the said pointed end15a, which end 15c may if desired have an eye, not shown, to which isattached a coiled tethering means in the form of an umbilical cord 16 ofnylon or similar material which cord may be integral with the saidbarbed member 15. The umbilical cord 16 is knotted at 16a and coiled toany convenient length within the hollow space 13 of the button 10depending upon the depth of the item, such as a cushion, to be buttonedand the type of loose or deep buttoning desired in the said item.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the button 10 is pushed into and used to piercean item such as a cushion 17 to be buttoned and the pointed end 15a ofthe barbed member 15 pierces the cushion 17. The abutment 15b of thebarbed member 15 engages with a snap action circlip 18 in a base orbottom 19 of a restraining means in the form of a complementary buttonshown generally at 20. The barbed member 15 is now detached fromaperture 14 by spring back forces generated from within the cushion asthe cushion adopts its finished dimension d₁, which dimension isdetermined by the length of the uncoiled tethering means in the form ofthe umbilical cord 16. The knot at 16a is unable to pass through theaperture 14 and clearly the cushion 17 is now buttoned by the twobuttons 10 and 20 which are tethered by means of the barbed member 15and the umbilical cord 16. As shown, the barbed member 15 being integralwith one another, the barbed member and the cord being made from nylonor a similar material.

As stated above, the button 10 comprises a base 12 having an aperture 14which receives and holds the said needle or barbed member 15. The barbedmember 15 is a press fit into aperture 14. The base 12 has a spring edge21 adapted to receive the upper part 11 of the button which when inplace (as shown) is sufficiently firmly secured to base 12 to allow thebarbed member 15 to abut with it when the barbed member pierces thecushion or similar item to be buttoned.

Referring now to FIG. 3 a buttoning means comprises the button 10 ofFIG. 1 in which the needle 15 is integral with the button and arrangedto mate, after penetration of the item to be buttoned, with acomplementary button shown generally at 20. The barbed member 15 entersa restraining means 22 which is in the form of a collar held by a rim 23on a base or bottom 24 of button 20. The collar 22 is provided with acoiled tethering means 25 in the form of an umbilical cord which isknotted at 26. Clearly, when the needle enters collar 22 it isrestrained by it and collar 22 is able to free itself from the base 24so that buttoning is effected in a similar manner to that shown in FIG.2.

Referring now to FIGS. 4, 4A a tethering means in the form of a coiledand uncoiled (or closed and extended) harness of nylon cords is shown.The barbed member 15 is provided with a terminal rim 15d which abuts,when the barbed member is detached from the button 10, with a ring 27which is attached to an harness 28 of nylon cords attached at 29 to thebase 12 of the button 10. The length d₂ of the uncoiled harness may bemade to take any length of buttoning as depicted for example by distanced₁ in FIG. 2.

Clearly a button with a detachable needle or barbed member and umbilicalcord such as that shown in FIGS. 1 or 4 may be used to advantage with acomplementary mating button such as the button shown at 20 in FIG. 3. Inthis way a long tethering means may be obtained by virtue of the twoumbilical cords 16 and 25 (or the cord 16 and harness 28) combined togive a long length of d₁ (FIG. 2) when the item to be buttoned isexceptionally deep.

The shape of the button is unimportant provided where necessary it has asufficient volume within itself to hold the coiled tethering means.Generally the button is circular in plan and domed in section but it mayinter alia be elliptical, rectangular or polygonal in plan. It mayfurther clearly be covered with any suitable covering material.

The restraining means is generally a button or a button bottom but itmay be the needle or barbed member per se since the needle may beprovided with an enlarged abutment 15b (FIG. 1).

Alternatively the needle may be provided at its end with pivoting barbssimilar to that used in a harpoon, said barbs remaining closed duringpenetration of the cushion or item to be buttoned and said barbs openingafter penetration to act as a restraining means.

The buttons shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 or 4 and/or their restraining meansmay be jointed together in a line formation so that they are readily fedfrom a magazine to a buttoning position or magazine-fed buttoning gun asdescribed in my co-pending United Kingdom Patent Applications 56396/72and 56795/73.

I claim:
 1. A buttoning means comprising in combination a pair of hollowtufting buttons at least one of which has an interior wall and each ofwhich are provided with base plate members, said base plate membersbeing provided with centrally disposed apertures capable of beingaligned on opposite side portions of material to be tufted, asubstantially rigid, elongated shank having a major portion extending toone end of uniform diameter slidably arranged in one of said apertures,a cord secured to one end of said shank and having an enlarged terminalportion positioned on one side of said apertured base plate memberadjacent said interior wall, terminal portion being larger than said oneaperture to prevent total removal of said cord, said shank means furtherincluding at its opposite free end a pointed end, adjacent said pointedend an abutment positioned outwardly from said shank having a greatertransverse extent than said one aperture for permanent insertion in saidaperture of said other button upon the pointed end end being forcedthrough said material to be tufted, said major portion of said shankbeing movable completely out of said one aperture.
 2. A buttoning meansas claimed in claim 1 in which the said one aperture which is arrangedto slidably support the said shank means includes a guideway means fororienting the said shank means in a predetermined direction toward theopposite side of the material to be tufted.
 3. A buttoning means asclaimed in claim 1 in which the shank means is of greater length thanthe distance from the base plate member to the interior wall of said onebutton.